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The study, published in the April issue of PLOS One, followed military members stationed across the United States, some at high altitudes (1.2 miles above sea level or higher, such as around Colorado Springs) and others at low altitudes (0.6 miles or lower).

They found that overweight U.S. service members are 41 per cent less likely to become obese when stationed at high altitude.

This follows a recent list of the thinnest and fattest cities of the United States, which may in some way back up these findings.

Soldiering on: The study found that U.S. Army and Air Force servicemen stationed at high altitudes were 41 per cent less likely to go from overweight to obese (file photo)

Boulder, Colorado, the 'thinnest city in the U.S.' according to data from Gallup, has an elevation of 5,430 ft.

Meanwhile the fattest city, Huntington, West Virginia only has an elevation of 564 ft.

‘These results suggest that moving to high altitude would protect an overweight person from moving to obesity,’ lead author, Dr. Jameson D. Voss, a consultant with the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, told the New York Times' Well blog.

Hypozia, a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply, can see levels of leptin, a hormone which supress appetite and controls metabolism, rise.

Hunger hormone cholecystokinin, responsible for stimulating the digestion of fat and protein, and norepinephrine, which narrows the blood vessels and could influence appetite indirectly by reducing blood flow to the gut, have both been shown to increase at higher altitudes.